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Between these early times and the 3rd century, Arab kingdoms and city states grew up along the coast of the Penninsula, the edges of the central desert and in the adjoining northern regions of present day Iraq and Jordan, as well as further north in Syria.
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In the 7th century, Islam becomes the new diminant religion
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In 632, after Muhammad's death, Abu Bakr was elected as the Islamic head of state, known as a ;Caliph'.
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By 750 the Islamic Empire reached well beyond the Arab region, from central Asia in the east to Spain in the went.
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From around 1000, the Penninsula became home to nomadic Arab people, known as Bedouin.
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The Ottoman Empire, which was Turkish in origin, but essentually Muslim, ruled most of the Arab Region (except Morocco and Central Arabia) from the early 16th to the early 19th centuries.
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By the beginning of the 20th century the Ottoman Empire had lost control of Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt, and Arab nationalist movements were emerging in the Syrian and Iraqi provinces. They aimed to create independent Arab states.
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During the First World War, Britain and it's Allies fought the Central Powers of Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire, and Arab forces assisted the Allies greatly.
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For the Arab political elite, their focas was on gaining independence while working with Britain and its Allies. However, most Arab states did not achieve real independence until after the Second World War.
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The Fifth Caliph of the Arab Abbasid Dynasty was Harun Al Rashid, who ruled in Bagdad.
